[comp.protocols.kerberos] Export restriction removed

liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk (William Roberts) (07/10/90)

In <43108@cornell.UUCP> ken@gvax.cs.cornell.edu (Ken Birman) writes:

>An East-German group expressed interest in using ISIS, and this lead
>me to check on the status of US export restrictions in regard to software
>like the ISIS system.

>Although I need to get this in writing, my understanding based on this
>phone conversation is that ISIS is no longer subject to any export
>restrictions, at all.  To the extent that any might still be in effect,
>they would only apply to a small set of countries based on concerns about
>nuclear non-proliferation -- the old free-world/non-free world split
>no longer seems to be the issue.

>The person I spoke to is a USDC expert on software export controls.  He
>seemed qualified to make this determination, but (to be fair) he also
>needs some written material from me to respond officially.

>At any rate, my understanding is that the export restrictions on ISIS
>have effectively been lifted.


Has there been any changes in the distribution restrictions on
Kerberos?  Ken Birman's message on comp.sys.isis suggests that
things are changing and the computing press has much talk about
COCOM rules going away...
-- 

William Roberts                 ARPA: liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk
Queen Mary & Westfield College  UUCP: liam@qmw-cs.UUCP
Mile End Road                   AppleLink: UK0087
LONDON, E1 4NS, UK              Tel:  071-975 5250 (Fax: 081-980 6533)

henry@mit.edu (Henry Mensch) (07/12/90)

In article <2495@sequent.cs.qmw.ac.uk>, liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk (William
Roberts) writes:
|> Has there been any changes in the distribution restrictions on
|> Kerberos?  Ken Birman's message on comp.sys.isis suggests that
|> things are changing and the computing press has much talk about
|> COCOM rules going away...

the DES export restriction doesn't seem to have any thing to do with COCOM
restrictions (we don't export DES to our 'friends' either ... not even 
canadians!) 

i do know that digital equipment corporation is shipping kerberos with its 
ULTRIX 4.0 software, and they are exporting a fully-operation kerberos to 
sites outside the US.  

i'm inclined to discount comments of the sort you included in your article 
because those remarks amount to is "a friend of a friend of a friend who 
claims to be an expert says it's doable, but none of us know how."  

it is also important for us to remember that MIT and Project Athena's primary
business is not the export of software, so we don't have the fleet of
expensive 
lawyers to pursue these issues.

you can be sure that when we have word that kerberos can be freely exported, 
we will let you in on the news.

# Henry Mensch    /   <henry@garp.mit.edu>   /   E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
# <hmensch@uk.ac.nsfnet-relay> / <henry@tts.lth.se> / <mensch@munnari.oz.au>

ittai@shemesh.GBA.NYU.EDU (Ittai Hershman) (07/12/90)

On a related note, Monday's Wall Street Journal had a good piece on
RSA which touched upon a number of the "national security" issues.
Page B1 as I recall...

-Ittai

edmbv@fiol.UiB.NO (Bjorn Asle Valde) (07/12/90)

In article <2912@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> henry@mit.edu (Henry Mensch) writes:
>In article <2495@sequent.cs.qmw.ac.uk>, liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk (William
>Roberts) writes:
>|> Has there been any changes in the distribution restrictions on
>|> Kerberos?  Ken Birman's message on comp.sys.isis suggests that
>|> things are changing and the computing press has much talk about
>|> COCOM rules going away...
>
>the DES export restriction doesn't seem to have any thing to do with COCOM
>restrictions (we don't export DES to our 'friends' either ... not even 
>canadians!) 
>
>i do know that digital equipment corporation is shipping kerberos with its 
>ULTRIX 4.0 software, and they are exporting a fully-operation kerberos to 
>sites outside the US.  

True.

>i'm inclined to discount comments of the sort you included in your article 
>because those remarks amount to is "a friend of a friend of a friend who 
>claims to be an expert says it's doable, but none of us know how."  
>
>it is also important for us to remember that MIT and Project Athena's primary
>business is not the export of software, so we don't have the fleet of
>expensive 
>lawyers to pursue these issues.

Reasonable.

>you can be sure that when we have word that kerberos can be freely exported, 
>we will let you in on the news.

As I'm sure you are aware of are there DES implementations done outside
the US (I've played with the Finnish one, works nicely) and therefore free
of any export restrictions. [ Well, I'm no layer, but that's what the 
documentation to the finnish DES seems to indicate]. If MIT used that DES
would they be free to ship Kerberos outside the US? If I took `Bones' and
melted in a "free" DES would I be able to export it - let's say to the US :-) ?

Surely MIT should concentrate on Kerberos, not legal issues. But software
DES really isn't a hot potato any more, and it's a bore to reinvent the
wheel, e.g. starting with 'Bones'. 

># Henry Mensch    /   <henry@garp.mit.edu>   /   E40-379 MIT,  Cambridge, MA
># <hmensch@uk.ac.nsfnet-relay> / <henry@tts.lth.se> / <mensch@munnari.oz.au>


Regards, Bjorn Asle
--
Bjorn Asle Valde                     bav@fiol.uib.no       +47 5 544214
Edb-Senteret, University of Bergen,  EDMBV@NOBERGEN.EARN    Fax: 544299
Thorm.gt.55, N-5008 Bergen, Norway.  S=valde;OU=cc;O=uib;P=uninett;C=no 

perand@admin.kth.se (Per Andersson) (07/29/90)

In article <3328@ifi.uio.no> edmbv@fiol.UiB.NO (Bjorn Asle Valde) writes:
>As I'm sure you are aware of are there DES implementations done outside
>the US (I've played with the Finnish one, works nicely) and therefore free
>of any export restrictions.

Not completely true. As has been said before, if it enters the US you are
not allowed to distribute out of there. So Project Athena could't offer a
complete package for export anyway. They could of course use the finnish DES,
remove the DES source, and say "- It is there, in Finland. Go get it".

Per
-- 
---
Per Andersson
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
perand@admin.kth.se, @nada.kth.se 

henry@mit.edu (Henry Mensch) (08/04/90)

(this is a relatively old article; i was away for much of july and am
just catching up ... )

In article <3328@ifi.uio.no>, edmbv@fiol.UiB.NO (Bjorn Asle Valde) writes:
|> As I'm sure you are aware of are there DES implementations done outside
|> the US (I've played with the Finnish one, works nicely) and therefore free
|> of any export restrictions. [ Well, I'm no layer, but that's what the 
|> documentation to the finnish DES seems to indicate]. If MIT used that DES
|> would they be free to ship Kerberos outside the US? If I took `Bones' and
|> melted in a "free" DES would I be able to export it - let's say to
the US :-) ?

i am certainly aware of DES implementations done outside the US.  the
export
regulations don't say that we can export a DES obtained from outside the
US.
you should consult your legal counsel about any potential restrictions
on 
the exportation of Bones modified for a particular version of DES.

-- Henry Mensch / <henry@MIT.EDU>
-- Project Athena External Relations